Sprinting events are the fastest competitions in track. They happen so quickly, they may seem like a single sprinting stage. But sprinters -- including hurdlers and relay runners -- all go through three distinct phases: drive, maximum velocity and maintenance.

Drive

The sprinter begins in the drive phase, when he bursts from a dead still position into a sprint. The sprinter begins in a crouched position, in the starting blocks, and pushes forward while leaning ahead. To make efficient use of his energy, the sprinter should lean with his whole body rather than bending at the hips. In this stage, the foot hits the track below or slightly behind the hips.

Maximum Velocity

After the drive phase, the runner transitions to the maximum velocity phase. At this point the runner becomes fully erect in his posture, standing tall without his hips lowered. As the name suggests, the runner achieves his maximum speed in this phase, maintaining it for as little as 10 to 30 meters in the 100-meter dash, or as much as 200 meters in the 400-meter sprint.

Maintenance

The final phase of a sprint is the maintenance phase. Sprinting is not thought of as an endurance sport, but even sprinters cannot maintain top speed for the entire race. In the final stage, the sprinter begins to slow down. In this stage, the goal is not to continue accelerating, but to minimize deceleration. The runner should be careful in this stage not to increase his stride length, which can have the inadvertent effect of slowing him down further.

Using the Stages

To achieve the best performance possible, runners should follow these three stages. The runner should always gain speed, maintain speed and then gradually slow down. Changing speeds throughout the race wastes energy, and re-accelerating late in the race can damage the hamstring. To make the most of a run, a sprinter should train to accelerate as quickly as possible, then maintain the maximum velocity stage as long as possible before inevitably slowing down.